The Secret Adventures of WriterGirl

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): He's a Pirate by Klaus Badelt [Pirates of the Carribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl soundtrack] .




My reviews are a bit different than most. As an undercover superhero (ordinary girl extraordinaire), my purpose is to try and uncover hidden gems lost from the familiar radar. Because of this, I have set up some guidelines for myself (just like the pirate code). :)

I will focus on YA and Children's literature (with very rare exceptions).
I will not review any book that is one of the top 25,000 selling books (based on Amazon ranks).
I will try and aim for books 100,000 or larger.
I will review recent books or books of great merit (preferably both).

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins
Published: July 1, 2010
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Pages: 272
Current Amazon Rank: #446,751
Author's Website: http://www.mitaliperkins.com/



The First Line:
Teachers wanted. Applicants must take examinations in person. Salaries start at---
"Chiko, come inside!" Mother calls through the screen door, her voice low and urgent.




My Take: This book is probably one of the best reads I've come across this year. It is haunting and beautiful at once, full of courage and strength and as a glimpse into modern-day Burma, it is eye-opening.

The story tells two different sides of the same story. The first is of Chiko, a studious Burmese boy who must be kept inside for fear of his own government kidnapping him and drafting him into service. His father has already been arrested for helping "the enemy" and they know nothing of his whereabouts, even though they are required to send in a monthly allowance to support him, and they are not sure if he is still alive and if the government is only lying to them. Deceived by a newspaper advertisement, Chiko is indeed taken without warning to a remote jungle location to be trained to fight the "barbaric" Karenni, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma.

There he finds a friend in Tai, a street boy also taken, who is desperate to get back to his sister. They train together and help each other survive in ways they could not on their own. Chiko is then drafted to go on a "secret mission" into the jungle--as a mine tester. The story then switches to Tu Reh's perspective, a Karenni boy barely older than Chiko and filled with hatred for what the Burmese has done to his people. Here the two stories converge.

It is a very difficult thing having multiple perspectives in a story. Often you become attached to one character and could care less about the other and only suffer through their chapters to get back to your favorite. That is not the case here. Having been thoroughly invested in Chiko for half the book, it is a brilliant stroke on Ms. Perkins part to reintroduce Chiko the moment the perspective's shift instead of going "back to the beginning" to tell Tu Reh's story. You pick it up seamlessly as the story progresses. And I can see the importance in the character shift. You needed to hear both sides of this story. Both of them grow in great ways and therin lies Mitali Perkins' greatest strength. Her characters are complex and real. Even the side characters had a depth to them that made me feel like I truly understood them (and I have to admit, I was completely in love with Tai's character. He was awesome). Even the love stories on both Chiko's and Tu Reh's parts were lovely. And her descriptions of the world draw you in. The details of the humidity, the fruits and plants, the threats from the jungle, everything. It felt like you were there with them, and I loved that.

Overall, a wonderful read I would highly recommend.




The Final Word: Simple, courageous, and beautiful, this book is one I won't lightly forget. It helps open your world and leaves you changed.

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Dry Your Tears, Afrika by John Williams [Amistad soundtrack].

"But you see, Meg, just because we don't understand doesn't mean that the explanation doesn't exist"


"Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything"


"Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared. The light spread until the patch of Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only a gentle shining, and through the shining came the stars, clear and pure"


"You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you"
- Madeline Le'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time (challenged/banned for religious content, challenging religious beliefs, witchcraft, listing of Jesus "with the names of great artists, philosophers, scientists, and religious leaders).





"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."


"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."


"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (challenged/banned for racism, use of rape as a plot device being "immoral" (1966), language).





"You will be faced, now, with pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend because it is beyond our experience. The Receiver himself was not able to describe it, only to remind us that you would be faced with it, that you would need immense courage."


"Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others."


"With his new, heightened feelings, he was overwhelmed by sadness at the way the others had laughed and shouted, playing at war. But he knew that they could not understand why, without the memories. He felt such love for Asher and for Fiona. But they could not feel it back, without the memories. And he could not give them those."


"It was not a grasping of thin and burdensome recollection; this was different. This was something that he could keep. It was a memory of his own"


"Well..." Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices!"
- Lois Lowry, The Giver (banned in 2001 for being sexually explicit, having occult themes, and violence. Challenged or banned for "promoting" infanticide, and euthanasia).




'I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues."
- Dr. Suess, The Lorax (banned in 1971 for "criminaliz[ing] the forestry industry")




"Both of them got eaten up (in full daylight, mind you, and on a crowded street) by an enormous angry rhinoceros which had escaped from the London Zoo. Now this, as you can well imagine, was rather a nasty experience for two such gentle parents."
- Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach (banned or challenged for language, being too scary for children, possible sexual references with the spider "licking her lips", references to snuff, tobacco and whiskey, and encouraging children to disobey adults.)




"Lincoln did something brilliant. Next to SLOW, he drew two neat perfect-size dots, one like a period and the other a little above it. Lucky knew it was a colon and it made the sign mean, "You must drive slow. There are children at play"
- Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Lucky (challenged/banned because of the use of the word "scrotum" on the first few pages. One objector said: “You won’t find men’s genitalia in quality literature.”).




"When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time. You'd be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside -- walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job. It's the saddest thing I know."

Sometimes I think high school is just one long hazing activity: if you are tough enough to survive this, they'll let you become an adult. I hope it's worth it.
- Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak (banned/challenged for sexual references, in regard to the subject matter about the main character being raped).




"Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something."
- Stephenie Meyer, Twilight series (banned/challenged for being too sexual and going against religious beliefs - banned in 2010 in Austrailia for this).




"Some times somebody will say hey lookit Frank, or Joe or even Gimpy. He really pulled a Charlie Gordon that time. I don't know why they say it but they always laff and I laff too."


"It may sound like ingratitude, but that is one of the things I hate here - the attitude that I am a guinea pig. Nemur's constant references to having made me what I am, or that someday there will be others like me who will become real human beings. How can I make him understand that he did not create me?"


"They had pretended to be geniuses. But they were just ordinary men working blindly, pretending to be able to bring light into the darkness. Why is it that everyone lies? No one I know is what he appears to be."
- Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon (banned/challenged for being "filthy and immoral" where the main character, Charlie, struggles to understand and express his sexual desires)



"'I'm fine,' said her mother.
'Is that true?'
'No, it's a lie. I'm a wreck. And your father's at a soccer game so I couldn't call him to say you were missing again.'"
- Caroline B. Cooney, Face on the Milk Carton (banned/challenged for sexual reference to possible "first encounter," and "challenge to authority.")




"I have four sisters. And I'd trade them all in for a good dog."


"He believed her because here in the shadowy light of the stronghold everything seemed possible. Between the two of them they owned the world and no enemy, Gary Fulcher, Wanda Kay Moore, Janice Avery, Jess's own fears and insufficiencies, nor any of the foes whom Leslie imagined attacking Terabithia, could ever really defeat them."
- Katherine Peterson, Bridge to Terabithia (challenged/banned for profanity or inappropriate language, promoting witchcraft, the occult/satanism and violence, disrespect of adults, and "an elaborate fantasy world they felt might lead to confusion").




"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."
- Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank (banned/challenged for being to sexually explicit, and in some cases for being too graphic or depressing for the age group).

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Perfect Day by Hoku.





Yes, you heard that right. Plural. There were so many wonderful comments and such excitement for these books, I couldn't help myself. So instead of one, there are three winners today (but oh how I wish I could give you all books. You don't know how this pains me just to have three).












And no, I won't hold you in suspense.





















Much. ;)



















The first winner is Onge wanting a copy of whatever I pick out (bwa ha ha ha!)







The second winner is Em with a brand spankin' new copy of Silver Phoenix!








And the third winner is Kasey with a copy of Showdown winner, The Thief!









It's kinda nice how it worked out and how everyone gets a different book. Let the love of YA Fantasy spread! And don't let not winning stop you, these are some really great books that were featured throughout the showdown. And keep coming back. You have pulled at my heartstrings. I may just have to pull from this list again on a rainy day and award another book most randomly. :) Congratulations everyone! Thank you for everything, truly.






P.S All winners contact me within the next 48 hours or I will have to pick new winners. I'm sure everyone else here won't mind if you're late though. :)

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Fidelity by Regina Spektor.

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): So Far Away by Staind.



This was originally an idea from Au Courant started in March, an idea she has graciously let me run with. (Note: Since Au Courant is no longer continuing her blog and hasn't been for some time, after this week I will be taking this part out and adopting this as my own, though I will leave the link still active in the early posts. It is a wonderful idea she had, and I want to thank her very much for it).

The idea is to introduce you to unknown, forgotten, or overlooked fiction that has been lost from regular radar. I am WriterGirl. I am in the business of saving lives, one book at a time.

What I do is go to amazon, narrow it down to a YA field and type in a random word, any word that comes to mind. I then take a sampling of some I have never heard of before, or only vaguely heard of (and hopefully you as well). No infringement is intended for any description I take for the books. It's purely for promotional reasons. I will try and cover as many genres as possible that are fitting for the random word. Simple but it really uncovers some incredible gems. I will be doing this every other Monday. If there are any words you want to prompt me with, go ahead and fire away.

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber




Counter-Clock World by Philip K. Dick

Released in 1967 and 1956, respectively, these volumes offer Dick's usual bleak outlook for the future. In CounterClock World, time begins moving backwards, and, as a result, there is a reanimation of the dead, including a religious leader who has amassed a sizable number of followers since his demise. Back above ground, he finds himself worshiped by millions who will do anything he says, making him quite dangerous. Japed follows a similar theme in the character of Allen Purcell, a highly placed politico who has the power to change the world. Dick fans and Blade Runner nuts will be glad to see these. --Library Journal.




The One O'Clock Chop by Ralph Fletcher

It's the summer of 1973 and fourteen year old Matt spends his days working on a boat as a clam digger to earn extra money. His nights are another story--he spends time with his free-spirited cousin Jazzy who is visiting from Hawaii (and just happens to be beautiful). Matt can't deny that his affection for Jazzy moves beyond a crush, and everyone knows you can't fall in love with your cousin. Just when Matt decides to act on his feelings, Jazzy does something that changes everything between them.

Like the one o'clock chop--the strong breeze that blows across the Long Island Sound--Matt's summer proves to be as inevitable as a force of nature. Told with pitch-perfect angst and realism, Ralph Fletcher tells a gripping story of a teenager's life-altering summer.



The Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle

Famous and influential as a preeminent illustrator, Howard Pyle was also a gifted writer beloved by millions — young and old — for his endearing and enchanting fairy tales. The Wonder Clock is a delightful, magical collection of whimsical stories: twenty-four stories for twenty-four hours. And each a timeless masterpiece. Peopled with jolly kings and queens, lovely princesses and evil witches, sly foxes and mischievous ravens, ogres and giants, dashing princes and nasty dragons, these are old fashioned fairly tales in the best and most beautiful sense that can be enjoyed by readers of any age.



Pandora's Clock by John J. Nance





The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby